Want to win? Absolutely.

Actually racing to win? Not everyone.

There is a lot of pressure on these guys. Only ten of them get a payday. Only 15 of them get their bike photos on ST (i.e. sponsor visibility). A lot of guys in the 2-10 finishing range must have been trying to protect their placement, as opposed to blowing up in pursuit of a win. Not there is anything really wrong with that.

It’s just a lot more fun to watch racing where guys take a lot of chances in pursuit of the real prize.

Lionel was a great example last year.

Romantic notions of David vs Goliath and giving it 110% aside, racing to place as high as you can gives you the best shot at a win. The other guy might have made a mistake. Might run into an issue. If you’ve blown your wad on the bike, you aren’t in a position to take advantage.

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

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2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

exactly, and this was wurf's point, even if he did maybe miss those 2 off his list.

wurf knows he doesn't have the run to win, at least not in those conditions - maybe if the wind smashes everyone on the bike. he's happy with his day because he tried something to create the possibility of a win by putting the pressure on during the ride. he gives credit to lange for having something up his sleeve to stop this from working.

TO on the other hand, while putting in a good performance (ignore PB times as most everyone did a PB thanks to the conditions), was never going to outrun lange - he settled for a good result rather than trying for victory. that's fine if he's happy with a solid result but wurf is looking for ways to win

TO and Rinny are both done competing for wins. They are just trying to stay relevant for a few years and milk the cow until it’s dry.

What on earth are you talking about? Tim won twice this year, and competed for the win in almost every race. Carfrae didn't come in less than second in any race, and also won. Those two are born competitors. There just happens to be a few who can beat them.

Age groupers on the internet 'splainin to former World Champions about what it means to compete is kinda funny.

Who's actually out there competing against Ryf or Lange at Kona? No one. It's a race for second.

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Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

That's delusional. There was never any possibility of a win, and the only thing Lange had "up his sleeve" was being a superior triathlete.

As Bill Parcells said, "you are what your results say you are." What the results say is that Wurf is a second-tier pro at Kona.

It will be interesting to see if Wurf’s run continues to progress. On the podcast he talks about he is slowly building his run to make sure his body can handle the mileage. That’s the main reason he has been able to do so many IM’s because he hasn’t been killing him self on the run. It will be interesting to see what he runs at the LA marathon

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Let food be thy medicine...

You don’t have to agree but it’s true. They are not competing; it’s a job for them now. They are good enough to win a couple races with B list pros in the list. But when it comes to Kona, their goal will be to be top 10 or top 5 for a few years to stay relevant.
Happens in all professions. Football players who are past their prime signing a final contract, doctors, plumbers, whatever.
Those 2 will never compete for the win again at Kona. I am sure about that as much as I am sure the sun will rise tomorrow.

That's debatable. Frodeno had he made the start line! Then had Sanders had a coach, Kienle bike had gears and the uber bike pack formed like I was frothing for with a little wind and it certainly would not have been a given. Ryf I agree with...

Well I know what I’m listening to tomorrow, saving my comments until then

Bullshit. Who's to say Lange doesn't fold like Frodeno did last year. And Wurf holds on 10 minutes better on the run? He's your winner, that's what happens. Didn't work out that way, but very feasible that it could have.

He led the race through 11 miles of the marathon. He put himself in position for things to break his way. They didn't. But he put himself in position for it to happen. That's not delusional.

A nice, windy day would paint an interesting picture. Wurf would likely get off the bike 15-20 minutes up on Lange, and I'd bet that Lange wouldn't run anywhere near as well as he has in the last two years if he had to bike by himself.

Hopefully it will happen.

Plus you have to factor in the Wurf likely had the capability to run faster if he though it would bring him the win, but he knew that Patrick was too close to him at T2. I would guess that if Wurf knew he was 15-20 min in front he wouldn't give up so easily.
Looking at the splits from last year, he outbiked Lange by 16 min. Lets say he does that again next year, then he would need a low 2:50 to have a real shot at winning. Like he said, he just doesn't have the consistency yet to do that, but maybe another year of training will make it happen. He should be looking for a mid- to low 2:30 in LA, and then learn how to go deep when it matters.

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Terrible Tuesday’s Triathlon

Agree. It's not delusional for him to feel that he's got a Kona win in him.
Nor is it delusional for him to think that he did what he could to win this year.

He's still got room to grow as a swimmer and runner - And as you suggest, it would only take a windy day for him to feasably come in to T2 with a workable gap on the uber runners.

He was just unlucky that the conditions somewhat neutralised his ability to make big gains on his biggest rivals this year. Hey ho, not every year suits everybody.

Remember in August (before Frodo got hurt) that it was a race for second. Oh yeah.

Lange is spectacular but won’t win next year. I don’t know who will or what will happen but he won’t win again. Stuff happens....before or during the race (see Sebi).

He certainly isn't a fan of Starky.
But in general I thought he was pretty realistic and, God forfend, somewhat modest. It's not boasting if you can do it...
But he also identified that he didn't run as well as he could/should or dig as deep as he could have.

I was surprised, given the negative press he's getting from some of ST, how complimentary he was about so many people against whom he races. Some of it is a bit backhanded re: Lionel noting that he's possibly the best physical animal in the sport, and on the right day the mentally toughest re: 2017, but then says that he can be tactically managed.

I'm looking forward to watching his Strava in the next few months as he does some riding with a few guys I used to row with: he's promised that Drew will be beaten down by both the riding and the banter. I was never able to do either, so I'll take pleasure in Wurfy doing so.

Very good interview. Some of the comments here make me realize how USA-centric this forum is. I don't think any of Cam's Aussie banter is meant with ill-will.

It's pure fantasy. He's a second tier pro, at least right now. He got some media time as the serious contenders let him dangle up front.

Again, the result says what he is: 9th. I could see maybe creating a comforting tale about how bold and tactical he might have been had he held on for 2nd and 3rd, and not been caught until late. But he was caught early, and a whole stream of guys went right by him with no difficulty, and Wurf's splits got slower with every mile. He never had a chance to win. Wurf either had to get to T2 with around a 20-minute lead or get there with some evidence that the contenders were somehow forced into burning matches to keep the gap at 7-8 minutes. There was no evidence. Wurf was the one who cracked early in the run, even relative to his own running standards. So he burned matches to get around 1/3 of the time gap he needed to have a chance. The contenders looked strong deep into the run. There's no hint, that I can see, that Wurf was dictating terms of the race to Lange or anyone else.

I get the attitude from a former bike racer. In bike racing sometimes if you get up the road early, you can beat better riders. Sometimes good things happen if the chase riders don't organize, or take you too lightly.

But triathlon, though it has some tactics, is much more of a time trial than mass-start bike racing.

I thought the run was boring and when your the uber biker that has to “hold on” but your caught by mile....12.....there wasn’t anything he was going to do in that race in particular.

Even the guys who were dropping Lange at early miles I kinda laughed that’s your plan? ETA: To Wurf's point- if your coming into T2 with Lange as the best Kona runner in the sport, you better just buckle in and hope to get 2nd. You aint beating Lange. If your goal was based on Lange having a bad day- cool, but if that bad day was on the run- yeah back to drawing board.

I thought it was a very very boring race when no one could really get any gaps due to calm conditions. I loved the teammate details and such but I thought the run was weak overall.


Frodo needs Gomez to burn his matches up on the bike to see if their “team” train is better than Dreitz/Lange. Of course that won’t happen as Gomez is a contender he just needed his 1st year to get his feet wet (I never had Gomez even on podium this year I kinda figured he would need a feeling out period).

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

Wurf will be 36 next Kona - thats still 2 years younger than when Alexander broke the record in 2011.

Like that 70 year old that ran sub 3 last week said - by not running at all until he was early 30s, Wurf basically has fresher legs than the pro itu/ ironman guys

Just like last year, Wurf's opinion and version of the facts flip-flop everytime he brushes the subject. Waste of time if one's hope is to actually learn something.

I would subscribe to your blog...

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Eric Reid AeroFit | Instagram Portfolio
Aerodynamic Retul Bike Fitting

“You are experiencing the criminal coverup of a foreign backed fascist hostile takeover of a mafia shakedown of an authoritarian religious slow motion coup. Persuade people to vote for Democracy.”

Exactly. You execute the race plan that'll give you best finish time you can achieve, and let the chips fall where they may. Even the best fall apart on the run sometimes (e.g J. Brownlee @ Cozumel). Blowing yourself up on the bike to finish X minutes ahead at T2 and hoping against reason that you can somehow pull a miracle marathon out of your ass after that is a lower percentage play that racing within yourself and being the one ready to pick up the pieces when the favorite(s) miscalculate or mis-execute.

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"They're made of latex, not nitroglycerin"

Lange for the THREE-PEAT!